Loom



E. J. WENTZ Feb. 7, 1933.

LOOM

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 16, 1932 INVENTOR.

EAELE J. WENTZ CL/NroxvjCosue/v.

ATTORNEY.

' Feb. 7, 1933. E. J. WENTZ 1,896,337

LOOM

Filed March 16, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

EAELE d. WEN TZ.

BY WM W MT/VESS.

CL/N TON 6. (Josue/v.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 7, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. f1 1 FARLE J. wmvrz,or ScnooLFIELn, VIRGINIA, AsSIeNoR T DRAVPER CORPORATION,

or HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A COBIEORATION. or MAINE LOOM Applicationfiled March' 16, 1932. Serial No. 599,233.

This invention relates to automatic looms of the type wherein thefilling supply is automatically replenished upon its becomingsubstantially exhausted. Such looms usually inelude a filling feeler anddevices controlled thereby for initiating operation of the replenishingmechanism upon substantial exhaustion of the filling Supply, and means,commonly including a filling fork, for'detectl0 ing the absence offilling in the shed and stopping the loom when the filling fails to beproperly laid in the shed.

As is hereinafter more fully explained, the stopping of the loom fromthe filling fork occurs with the lay part way up on its beat"- ing-instroke and with the shuttle boxed on the opposite side of the 100m fromthe filling fork when a Side fork is used. Such forks are ordinarilypositioned on the side of the loom opposite the replenishing mechanismand, therefore, stop the loom with the shuttle in the box on thereplenishing side of the loom. Then, before the loom is restarted, theweaver must remove the broken pick if one be present in the shed andmust in addition, remove the shuttle from the box, manually thread thefilling through the shuttle eye, replace the shuttle in the box andsecure the loose end of filling to a stationary part of the loom. Theseadditional operationsare rather difiicult to accomplish when the shuttleis boxed beneath or behindthe replenishing mechanism, and consume muchof the weavers time, V

It is, accordingly, the principal object of my invention to eliminatethe aforementioned additional operationson the part of the weaver, andto this end the invention contemplates the provision of means operating,when the loom is stopped from the filling detecting means with theshuttle atthe replenishing side, to position the replenishing mechanismfor replenishing of the filling supply on the first beat-up of the layfollowing the restarting of the loom. 7

Other objects will, in part, be hereinafter more specifically enumeratedor will, in part, become obvious as the description proceeds.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate 50 the preferred embodimentof my invention:

ward andfrom the front Fig. 1' is a fragmentary plan view of the frontportion of a loom, certain parts being broken away or omitted to bettershow the operation of my invention; 1

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the anism shown in Fig. 1; I

Fig. 3 is a sectional view, toan enlarged scale, taken substantially online 33 ofFig. 2 and Figs. 4 and 5 are views showing the sitions.

The loom to which my invention has been applied includes the usual loomsides I carry ing abreast beam 2, a lay 3- reciprocated to: of theloom-by crankshaft 4, shuttle 5 picked alternately from side to side ofthe loom "along a race plate on the lay, and other usual well-known 7devices which form no part of the present invention and need not beillustrated or described.

The mechanisms of the loom with which my invention is particularlyconcerned are the filling replenishing mechanism and means initiatingthe operation of the same and thefilling detecting and loom stoppingdevices, the invention consisting, as above indicated, in a novelinterrelation between such mechanisms. I

The filling replenishing mechanisln' is shownas being located on theright hand side of the loom andmay be of any suitable usualconstruction. The particular replenishing mechanism shown includesabattery or hopper 6 for supporting a reserve supply of bobbins, and atranSfer'hammerF for driving a full bobbin into the shuttle boxedtherebeneath, and expelling the nearly empty bobbin. The transfer hammeris in the form 90 of a bell crank lever pivoted on a stud 8 and normallyurged to inoperative positionby a coil spring 9. The vertical arm 10 ofthe transfer hammer carries a dog 11 pivoted thereto as at 12 andoontrolled'by a pin 13 operated from the shuttle feeler 14. Upon a callfor'replenishm-ent the dog 11 is tilted up into the path of abunter (notshown) carried by the lay, the beat-up of the lay effecting the actualtransfer. i I

mechsimilar to Fig.

parts in different operative po- The filling feeler 15 and operativeconnections therefrom for initiating the replenishing operation maylikewise be of any suitable usual construction, except as hereinafterpointed out. The filling feeler is, as shown, located on the oppositeside of the loom from the replenishing mechanism and is, therefore,operative only when the shuttle is boxed on the side opposite thereplenishing mechanism. When the feeler detects substantial exhaustionof the filling supply in the shuttle it will move link 16 to the right,thereby posi: tioning a latch 16 (Figs. 3-5) on link 17 into the path ofa head 18 on weft hammer 19 which, as is usual, reciprocates toward andfrom the front of the loom at the rate of one complete reciprocation foreach two picks.

The weft hammer starts its forward movement at just about the time thelay reaches front center.. Consequently, when link 16 is moved to theright the weft hammer will, through the latch, move link 17 forwardly asthe lay starts back. Link 17 is pivoted at 20 to an arm 21 fixed at itslower end to a rock shaft 22. extending widthwise of the loom below andin front of the breast beam. The rock shaft 22 carries an arm 23 foroperating shuttle feeler 14 which tilts dog 11 into operative position,thereby completing the initiation of the replenishing operation. Theweft hammer has a dwell at the forward end of its stroke, to hold dog 11in operative position until the next beat-up of the lay, during whichtime the shuttle has been picked to the replenishing side of the loom.

The filling detecting means is located on the same side of the loom asthe feeler and is comprised of the usual filling fork 2 1 pivoted to aslide 25 mounted in the usual manner for sliding movement toward thefront of the loom, the slide being normally held in a rearward positionby a spring, not shown. The front end of the filling fork slide isguided in its movements by an arm 26 pivotally mounted on a convenientsupport, such as rock shaft 22. When the filling fork detects absence offilling in the shed the tail 27 will engage hook 28 on member 29 whichis pi'v oted to the upper end of the weft hammer 19. The weft hammerwill then start to move the filling work slide forwardly when the laystarts rearwardly, and has completed the forward movement by the timethe crank in the crank shaft 4 is slightly past top center, the shuttlebeing picked toward the replenishlng side when the crank is at topcenter, as is usual.

When the filling fork slide 25 is moved forwardly a stop 30 carriedthereby engages and moves the inner end of a lever 31, pivoted at 32 onthe breast beam 2. The outer end of the lever 31 is positioned justforwardly of a notch'33 in a guide member 34. A shipper handle 35occupies notch 33, when the loom is running, but is released from thenotch by lever 31 almost simultaneously with the picking of the shuttletoward the replenishing side of the loom. The release of the shipperhandle from notch 33 sets in operation the usual brake and possiblydisengages a clutch or shifts a driving belt, to stop the loom. Thebrake and clutch or belt shipper are not illustrated because they arestandard construction on virtually all power looms and are, therefore,well known in the art. Suffice it to say that they stop the'loom inabout one-half of a revolution ofthe crank shaft from the instant theshipper. is released from its notch.

It is apparent from the foregoing that when the loom is stopped from thefilling fork the shuttle will be'boxed on the replenishing side and thelay will be'part way up on its forward stroke.

As above indicated, I haveprovided means for initiating the replenishingoperation simultaneously with the initiation of the stopping of theloom. Such means, in the simplest form I have so far devised, includes alost-motion connection between the filling fork slide 25 and the arm 21,whereby movement of the slide will operatethe arm but operation of thearm from the filling feeler will not move the slide. To this end, a pin36 projects laterally from link 17 into a slot 37 formed in member 38and a pin 39'projec'ts from the filling fork slide into a slot 40,likewise formed in member 38.

When the parts occupy their normal positions, as shown in Figs. 1-3, pin36 is at the extreme rear end of slot 37 and pin 39 isat the extremeforward end of slot 40. The length of each of the slots is equal to orgreater than the length of movement of the weft hammer.Consequently,when replenishment is initiated from the filling feeler andlink 17 is moved forwardly, the pin-and-slot connection permits the linkto operate arm 21 and thus initiate the replenishing operation Withoutin any way affecting the filling fork slide or the connections to theshipper handle, as shown in Fig. 5.

. However, should the filling fork detect absence of filling in the shedit will operate to stop the loom in the manner above indicated, but pin39, engagin the forward end of slot 40, will move mem loer 38 forwardly,as shown in Fig. 4. Forward movement of member 38 operates, through slot37 and pin 36, to initiate operation of the replenishing mechanism. Itfollows that when the loom is stopped from the fork the shuttle will beboxed on the replenishing side of the loom, the lay will be part wayforward on the replenishing beat-up and the dog 11 will be operativelypositioned to be struck by the bunter-o-n the lay on the first beat-upfollowing the restarting of the loom.

The stopping mechanism operates as usual, to stop the loom before theshed has closed or the broken pick is beaten in and it requires only aninstant to remove the broken pick, if one be present. The replenishingoperation is consummated on the first beat-up of the lay following therestarting of the loom and the weaver is thereby relieved of thedifficult and time consuming task of removing the shuttle, threading itby hand, replacing it in the shuttle box and securing the end of fillingprojecting from the shuttle eye. Consequently, the comparatively simplestructural change which I have made in the exis ing looms changesconsiderably their mode of operation and accomplishes an importantsaving in time and attention required. It is this change in theoperation of the loom, attained by a novel structural relation betweenthe replenishing mechanism and filling detecting and loom stoppingdevices, that I consider to constitute the essence of my invention.

Having fully disclosed the preferred embodiment of my invention, Iclaim:

1. In a loom, the combination of filling replenishing mechanism, afilling fork slide and a filling fork carried thereby for detecting theabsence of filling in the shed, means controlled by said filling forkfor simultaneously initiating the stopping of the loom and positioningthe said replenishing mechanism for replenishment of the filling supplyon the first beat-up of the lay following the restarting of the loom,and means operable in dependently of the said slide for initiatingreplenishment of the filling supply without stopping the loom.

2. In a loom, the combination of a filling fork slide, a filling feeler,means including an arm for initiating filling replenishment, and alost-motion connection between said slide and said arm causing the slideto operate the arm but permitting movement of the arm independent of theslide under control of the said filling feeler.

control of the filling feeler without moving the slide.

5. In a loom, the combination of the filling replenishing mechanism onone side of the loom, a filling feeler on the opposite side of the loomfrom the replenishing mechanism, means controlled by said feeler forinitiating operation of said replenishing mechanism upon substantialdepletion of the filling supply, a filling fork mounted on a slide onthe same side of the loom as the filling feeler, means for moving saidslide to stop the loom when the filling fork detects absence of fillingin the shed, and a lost-motion connection be tween said slide and saidfirst mentioned means causing movement of the slide to operate thereplenishing mechanism but permitting operation of the replenishingmechanism under control of the filling feeler without moving the slide.V

6. In a loom, the combination of a filling fork slide, means operableindependently of the said slide for initiating filling replenishment,and a lost-motion connection between said slide and said means, saidconnection causing movement of the slide to also initiate fillingreplenishment.

EARLE J. WENTZ.

3. In a loom, the combination of a filling fork slide, means includingan arm for iniating filling replenishment, and a pin-and-slot connectionbetween said slide and said arm causing the slide to operate the arm butpermitting movement of the arm independent of the slide.

4. In a loom, the combination of filling replenishing mechanism, afilling feeler, means controlled by said feeler for initiating operationof said replenishing mechanism upon substantial depletion of the fillingsupply, a filling fork mounted on a slide, means for moving said slideto stop the loom when the filling fork detects absence of filling in theshed, and a lost motion connection between said slide and said firstmentioned means causing movement of the slide to operate thereplenishing mechanism but permitting operation of the replenishingmechanism under

